The manufacture of biomedical moldings such as in particular contact lenses by crosslinking an aqueous solution of a water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) prepolymer in a mold is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,163. Contact lenses manufactured by the process of the prior art reference have advantageous properties such as a good compatibility with the human cornea resulting in a high wearing comfort and the absence of irritation and allergenic effects. However, while the initial wearing comfort—as with most contact lenses—is good, said comfort decreases over time and particularly may cause sensitive eye problems at the end of the day. It is therefore an object of the invention to increase the prolonged wearer comfort and in particular the end-of-day comfort of current PVA contact lenses.